Wednesday, August 26, 2015

It's always great to have vacation time. The negative thing about a
vacation is that it always seems to come to an end far too speedily.
So it's back to life and back to reality for me! It's not that I
don't love my work and feel incredibly fortunate to be the pastor of
such a great group of people as Mount Hebron Presbyterian Church.
Rather that a break from the routine is always refreshing for the
soul and it grants a refreshed perspective for our daily routines. (My first sermon back after vacation, a reflection on Psalm 23, can be found here)

In our services through the coming month we are going to be taking a
look at the New Testament Book of James. James is a very practical
little book. For James faith isn't so much about what we believe
(although he thinks that is important), it is more about what we do.
For James the evidence for having faith is seen, not through the
words we say, but in the actions of love and acceptance of others
that our lives demonstrate.

He has harsh things to say about people who make religion a way of
getting on in the world. Those who court the influence of the
powerful and ignore the needs of those the world sees as
insignificant. He warns people to be careful with their words,
because he recognizes that words can be powerful vehicles of hatred
and intolerance. There are many echoes of gospel stories in this
short letter. He talks of enduring troubles, praying for healing and
leaving judgment of others in God's hands.

He suggests that we all have a battle on our hands when it comes to
living a Christ-like life. That it doesn't come easily. That the ways
of the world influence our lives in more ways than we often realize.
We should therefore be careful in regard to what we nurture our lives
upon. If we feed our bodies and our minds and spirits upon garbage,
then we will probably produce a corresponding output. James is a
'back to reality' kind or writer. He doesn't pull any punches when it
comes to the business of 'walking the talk'.

An ancient tradition, held as genuine by many scholars today, is that
the James who writes this letter is the same James who was the
brother of Jesus and a prominent leader within the earliest church.
Certainly the tone of his words support such an observation.

When
asked about the business of living productive spiritual lives, Jesus
responded (In Matthew 7:15)... 'By their fruits you
will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from
thistles?' 'Fruits' meant good works of any kind. By observing
what faith produced, you could determine if it was genuine or not!
This is a common theme for James.

As we begin a new season in our lives
it is never a bad thing to get back to reality. The Book of James
can help us do that... so I highly recommend it for your study. For
sure it is great to get away from time to time. But life is not a
vacation and love always challenges us to take the needs of others
with great seriousness. In such a way we often discover God blesses
our lives in unexplained ways!

For some back to reality, back to God music, here's a country ditty from Randy Houser titled 'Back to God'. Not sure if James would be a country fan (then again, why not?) but pretty sure he'd endorse the statement Randy sings - "Ya gotta keep on praying"! (See James 5:13-18).

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

So myself and 94 others (including two of our own youth) had a most excellent week at the Trinity Youth Conference. We sang, worshiped, studied and played together. Sometimes there were even opportunities to sleep. We put away our cell phones and electronic devices and sought to listen for other voices that may be out there in the wild wide universe.

There was much laughter. There were many tears. I never cease to be astonished by the battles many of our youth and young adults have to fight. Broken families. Violence. Discrimination. Temptations to drug abuse and other forms of over indulgence. Constantly being bombarded by the pressure to both consume and achieve.

My prayer for those who were there is simply that they will continue to find a place where their lives can be centered. That the connections they made during the week, both with their peers and their spiritual self, will strengthen them and guide them into making good decisions and assure them they are never alone. It truly was a privilege to be involved in such an event and I thank the congregation at Mount Hebron for their support.

We do have some excellent preachers lined up whilst I'm gone. Rev. Robert Culp, a long time friend and regular attender at Mount Hebron, will be leading worship on August 9th. On August 16th we welcome to our pulpit Rev. Doris Cowan. Come along and be revived by the message they bring.

Also the next two Sundays our new children and youth minister Evan Stewart will be meeting with folk after worship to talk about his plans for Sunday School and Youth development. Exciting times! We continue to pray for God to grow our church and ministry to both young and old, seeking to be faithful to our mission statement; 'Growing in Faith, Called to Serve'.

One of the songs that has been sung at the Trinity Youth Conference the last couple years has been 'Revival' by Robin Mark. It's great little tune that just builds and builds ... and a lot of fun to sing with a crowd! Wherever this month leads you, may you find moments of personal revival, be it through recreation, worship or just in the midst of that everyday same old, same old.

The amphitheatre at Mount Hebron

Pastor's Blogging Thoughts

Church Communities are charged with the task of communicating the Christian faith. Thanks to the World Wide Web this can take place through more formats than just a Sunday Service. My hope is that this little corner of the web will help Mount Hebron Presbyterian Church of Ellicott City, MD, connect with a wider community than just those who share in their worship on Sunday mornings.